In prose, what does an ellipsis (...) at the end of an piece of dialogue actually mean? Does it denote an utterance that has trailed off, or one that has been cut off? Or something else? I've seen it used for both.
An ellipsis signifies: > Unfinished thought or trailed off sentence, as you mentioned, ie, "Well now that you mention it..." > An intentional omission of a word, ie, "I live on ... Street in London" > An implication of an unstated alternative, ie, "I never drink ... wine" Don't think I've missed anything, hope it helps.
google is your best friend... and a lot quicker than posting questions and waiting for answers [not all of which may be reliable, though this one was, as far as it goes]... anyone wanting to be a writer should have a good punctuation guide handy at all times... my list of reference links is posted in a sticky right above the thread menu in this section... i suggest you click on it and add those links to your 'favorites' list...
